1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device and an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the sheet feeding devices, large-capacity sheet feeding devices configured to hold a large amount of sheets of media and feed the sheets one at a time to an image forming apparatus are known. Demands for printing on long sheets (e.g., a banner page (cover page), a double-page spread in a brochure, and an advertising banner) longer than sheets of a standard size such as A4 or A3 size are growing in recent years in printing market.
Some known types of the large-capacity sheet feeding devices include a sheet feeding tray capable of holding a large amount of sheets. An example of such a large-capacity sheet feeding device is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2006-232534. However, long sheets, which are sheets longer than standard-size sheets, cannot be stacked on a sheet feeding tray of a general large-capacity sheet feeding device. For this reason, stacking, feeding, and performing printing on long sheets have conventionally been performed by repeatedly stacking a small amount of the long sheets on a bypass tray.
To avoid the inconvenience described above, the applicant has conceived to extend a tray bottom plate of a sheet feeding tray of a large-capacity sheet feeding device by removably attaching an extension bottom plate to the tray bottom plate so that long sheets can be fed by utilizing the sheet feeding tray. The extension bottom plate is removably attached to the upstream side of the sheet feeding tray in a sheet feeding direction.
Accordingly, if a user should pull the sheet feeding tray to stack sheets or to fix paper jam, the extension bottom plate can be damaged by being caught by a casing. It is desired to solve this disadvantage.
Under the circumstances, there is a need for a sheet feeding device and an image forming apparatus capable of preventing the extension bottom plate from being damaged.